Claude Ballif (22 May 1924 – 24 July 2004) was a French composer, writer, and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...

. He worked at a number of institutions throughout more than 40 years of teaching, one of which he had attended as a student. Among his pupils were

Raynald Arseneault Raynald Arseneault (9 June 1945 – 27 January 1995) was a Canadian composer and organist. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consists of more than 50 works. His style was particularly influenced by Ivan W ...

Nicolas Bacri Nicolas Bacri (born 23 November 1961) is a French composer. He has written works that include seven symphonies, eleven string quartets, eight cantatas, two one-act operas, three piano sonatas, two cello and piano sonatas, four violin and piano ...

, Gérard Buquet, Joseph-François Kremer,

Philippe Manoury Philippe Manoury (born 19 June 1952) is a French composer. Biography Manoury was born in Tulle and began composition studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Gérard Condé and Max Deutsch. He continued his studies from 1974 to ...

Serge Provost Serge Provost (born August 29, 1952) is a Canadian composer and organist. He has been "recognized as one of the most active Québécois composers of his generation".Mehmet Okonsar, Simon Bertrand,

Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has won many awards, including two Academy Awards, for his musical scores to the films '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'' and '' The Shape of Water'' ...

, and

Claude Abromont Claude Abromont (born 1955 in Paris) is a French musicologist, essayist and writer. He is mostly known for his ''Guide de la théorie de la musique''. Biography After studying the history of music, harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatoire ...

. He was described as a French modernist and as "the product of the exciting and turbulent post World War II years of the Western

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

" alongside composers Pierre Boulez and

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...

Biography

Ballif was born in Paris on 22 May 1924, the fifth of ten children. He grew up in a bourgeois family but did not recognize the privilege of his childhood as a rarity until much later. His mother Odette was from the Festugière family, forgemasters and owners of the Château de Poissons in

George Desvallières George Desvallières (1861–1950) was a French painter. A native of Paris, Desvallières was a great-grandson of academician Gabriel-Marie Legouvé, and received a religious upbringing. He studied at the Académie Julian(fgallica.bnf.fr, Lar ...

. Ballif's father, Colonel Laurent Ballif, was a senior military officer who served in the Tibesti War,

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Laurent was of Swiss descent. Ballif started music at an early age; though the piano was his first love, he was told piano was for girls and that his fingers would never be able to make the right positions, so he learned violin. When Ballif was 13, his father was assigned to a base in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and the family moved to

Antananarivo Antananarivo (French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("An ...

. While in Madagascar, "Captain Durand," an artillery director on base, taught Ballif music theory; he took violin lessons from a beggar. He also learned the play the djembe, the

valiha The valiha is a tube zither from Madagascar made from a species of local bamboo; it is considered the " national instrument" of Madagascar. The term is also used to describe a number of related zithers of differing shapes and materials. T ...

, and the flute. The family returned to France while Ballif was still in high school and he started at the

Conservatoire de Bordeaux The Conservatoire de Bordeaux is an arts conservatory that offers higher education in music, dance and drama in Bordeaux, France. It is one of the leading schools in France for singers and saxophonists. Founded in 1821, the school is operated by ...

in 1942 at 18. He left in 1948 to attend the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

with Aubin and

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonicall ...

as his teachers and Alain Weber,

Michel Fano Michel Fano (born 9 December 1929) is a French musician, composer, writer, filmmaker, and sound designer. He developed the concept of to describe the potential for a film's soundtrack to interact with its visual content. During the early 1950s, ...

, and

Jean-Michel Defaye Jean-Michel Defaye (born 18 September 1932) is a French pianist, composer, arranger and conductor known for his collaboration with French poet and singer-songwriter Léo Ferré. He was born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne near Paris, on 18 Septemb ...

as his classmates. He dropped out in 1951 before finishing his degree because he did not feel that he could properly express himself with the academic constraints on the students' music. In 1954, he was awarded a

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD (german: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), was founded in 1925 and is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation. Organisation ''DAAD'' is a ...

(DAAD) grant that allowed him to study at the

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in Berlin. Blacher and Rufer were among his teachers. He spent three summers in Germany, particularly at the

Darmstädter Ferienkurse Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Co ...

, where he met

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s th ...

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, and

. He also interpreted the Darmstadt Summer Courses for John Cage, who did not speak German. He performed the music for film advertisements for a while and in 1959 started at the Groupe de Recherche Musicale with

Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...

. Ballif's friend

Hélène Boschi Hélène Boschi ( ; 11 August 19179 July 1990) was a Franco-Swiss pianist, born in Lausanne. She studied with Yvonne Lefébure and Alfred Cortot at the Ecole normale de musique in Paris. Throughout her life she led a dual career as a teacher and as ...

worked at

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Eng ...

and told him of an opening for a teacher of music history, analysis, and pedagogy. Not long after, he married Elisabeth, the daughter of an army general. In 1965, he helped establish the music department at

Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis (french: Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis) is a public university in Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public institution. It is one of the th ...

and in 1971 was appointed to succeed Messaien, his former teacher, at the Conservatoire de Paris. He also taught at the and as a visiting professor at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

in Montréal. He left the Conservatoire de Paris in 1990. He subsequently taught in

Sevran Sevran () is a commune in the French department of Seine-Saint-Denis, northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the center of Paris. Geography Sevran is located northeast of the Boulevard Périphérique.

for ten years before visiting Venezuela with Williams Montesinos and Austin Marianu in July 2000. What was intended to be a short trip stretched out for months and Ballif settled there because he was "able to do what I dreamed of when I was 16... just be a composer". He taught lessons on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and spent the rest of his time at his piano. During his career, he published the following books: ''Introduction à la métatonalité'' (1956), ''Berlioz'' (1969), ''Voyage de mon oreille'' (1979), ''Souhaits etre Symboles'' (1988; published only in Canada), and ''L'Habitant du labyrinthe : entretiens avec Alain Galliari'' (1992). He also founded the Ivan Wyschegradsky Association in 1983. Ballif spent the final years of his life living in

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Saint-Dizier Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture Of the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a subprefecture of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Haut ...

and is buried in Poissons. His mother died two days later, age 104.

Metatonality

Metatonality, "a fusion of diatonic scales with the chromatic one, which form an 11-element metatonal scale", was invented by Ballif in 1949. He struggled in his early years of music study with balancing his need for independent creation and the university's regimented music lessons. This is what led him to leave the

without a completed degree in 1951. Ballif published his first book about metatonality (''Introduction à la métatonalité'') in 1956. He credits his "deep friendship" with

Jean Wahl Jean André Wahl (; 25 May 188819 June 1974) was a French philosopher. Early career Wahl was educated at the École Normale Supérieure. He was a professor at the Sorbonne from 1936 to 1967, broken by World War II. He was in the U.S. from 1942 ...

Josef Rufer Josef Rufer (1893–1985) was an Austrian-born musicologist. He is regarded as a significant figure mainly on account of his association with and writings on Arnold Schoenberg. Rufer was a pupil of Alexander von Zemlinsky and Schoenberg in Vien ...

, Andréas Rónaï, and

for solidifying the concept and practice of metatonality very early on. He added referential and orient concepts to his theory as well. He became interested in microtonal theory after meeting

Ivan Wyschnegradsky Ivan Alexandrovich Wyschnegradsky; Is also transliterated as Vïshnegradsky, Wyshnegradsky, Wischnegradsky, Vishnegradsky, or Wishnegradsky (after he emigrated to France, he used "Wyschnegradsky" as spelling for his surname)., group=n ( ; Septe ...

for the first time; Wyschnegradsky and

Alois Hába Alois Hába (21 June 1893 – 18 November 1973) was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-tone scal ...

"launched iminto the ultrachromatic universe." Ballif wrote his doctoral dissertation on metatonality. His music was also deeply influenced by his staunch Catholicism.

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballif, Claude 1924 births 2004 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians Conservatoire de Paris faculty Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Conservatoire de Bordeaux alumni Conservatoire de Paris alumni French male classical composers Microtonality Musicians from Paris Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin alumni Academics of the École Normale de Musique de Paris McGill University faculty People from Haute-Marne Educators from Paris